Air Namibia ‘bypasses’ pilot licensing rules

[Pow-wow]

Oh dear...from the Namibian newspaper today...:rolleyes:

PRESSURE by a senior manager of Air Namibia to falsify information for a South African to get a local flying licence led to the sudden resignation of a flight instructor at the national airline.

Ralph Brammer, official trainer and certified Directorate of Civil Aviation (DCA) examiner, handed in his resignation this week after persistent pressure from Head of Training and Standards at Air Namibia, Alois Nyandoro, to falsify information on a DCA form to get the necessary certification for the SA citizen to fly Air Namibia’s domestic Beechcraft 1900 fleet.
Sources have confirmed that Cebile Mndawe, a South African citizen, was employed by Air Namibia during the last 2009 intake.
Air Namibia applied for the validation certificate from DCA as required, in order to obtain permission for her to fly in Namibia.
Air Namibia’s General Manager Human Resources, Theo Namases, denied that the airline ever attempted to “bypass proper procedures and regulations”.
She said that the “system has waterproof checks and balances, with the Directorate of Civil Aviation acting as the watchdog”.
However, according to confidential informants, the DCA initially granted Mndawe the papers necessary to fly in Namibia but withdrew the validation when they were notified that Mndawe was not in possession of a valid South African pilot’s licence, a strict requirement when applying for the Namibian licence.
Furthermore, the DCA heard that Mndawe’s flying skills were “sub-standard” and that she would need to undergo additional practical flight examinations before she would be permitted to fly in Namibia.
Mndawe, before joining Air Namibia was employed with SA Express, but “she did not pass her type conversion training required by the airline, and we then redeployed her into air operations” – a desk job, the public relations department of SA Express confirmed yesterday.
When it was discovered that Mndawe was not in possession of a valid SA flying licence, the DCA withdrew her validation certificate and requested that she renew her South African pilot’s licence.
She was also required to re-do the practical flying examination before they would consider granting her permission to fly in Namibia.


Internally, it was recommen-ded that a review board should be convened to evaluate Mndawe’s performance in order to decide whether she should undergo additional training or otherwise be dismissed, sources claim.
The review board was not held, however, for unknown reasons, and sources claim that senior management of Air Namibia approached the DCA and asked for an explanation for the withdrawal of Mndawe’s Namibian flying certification.
They were apparently again informed that Mndawe would need to get her South African pilot’s licence renewed and that she must undergo a practical flying examination.
Last week, Nyandoro allegedly instructed the senior DCA-approved examiner, Brammer, to transfer information from an unrelated form onto the DCA form, which would have created the impression that Mndawe had completed the required practical flight test as requested by the DCA.
The Namibian was reliably informed that Nyandoro insisted that the practical flight examination could be skipped and told Brammer to copy the initial recommendations for Mndawe’s employment onto the DCA form.
One of the reasons allegedly advanced by Nyandoro to backdate the practical flying test results, and ignore the direct instructions from the DCA to complete a new flying test, was because it would apparently be too expensive for Air Namibia to repeat the test.
Nyandoro also allegedly insisted that the DCA was willing to accept the outdated, and invalid, practical flight test results.
In reaction to the pressure from his senior, Brammer this week resigned from Air Namibia, and sources say that he was unwilling to become involved in questionable practices and procedures used to employ people at Air Namibia. Brammer could not be reached for comment.
Another source yesterday confirmed that had Brammer agreed with the request from Nyandoro, it would have been deemed “highly illegal and it wouldn’t have been approved by the DCA”.

[putt for dough]

Good on you Ralph :ok:
High morals and standards, a true gent.

[Bob3213]

Respect Ralph! :D
Wonder how the "foreigner" got a job here in Nam - especially with the constant struggle that we, the other race, have to renew ours.. Maybe I should change my name to "Sipho"? :}

[Tom_Kitty]

"The Namibian" 17-03-2010

More rot exposed at AirNam

IRREGULAR practices related to the employment and licensing of pilots at Air Namibia have been confirmed by a high-ranking Directorate of Civil Aviation (DCA) official.
The representative, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the DCA is “fully aware of the irregularities going on inside Air Namibia and we do immediately attend to them if they affect [air] safety issues”.
Despite these questionable practices, the official assured the public that the current crop of Air Namibia’s captains are qualified and will not compromise the safety of the airline’s passengers.
In addition the DCA said that it is concerned about Air Namibia’s push to employ foreigners to fly Namibia’s domestic Beechcraft 1900 fleet, since “there are enough qualified Namibian pilots who meet the entry level standards”.
The Namibian reported last week about the resignation of the official trainer and certified DCA examiner of Air Namibia after alleged persistent pressure from a senior manager to transfer information from an in-house flight test document onto the official DCA flight test form, without conducting the practical flight test.
This was done in order to obtain the necessary certification for a South African citizen to fly Air Namibia’s domestic Beechcraft 1900 fleet.
This questionable deviation from the requirements stipulated by the DCA did not stop with the SA citizen and serious allegations are now levelled against the national carrier’s attempts to employ Tanuj Singh, an Indian national.
Singh applied for a job at Air Namibia despite being under-qualified in terms of Air Namibia’s normal entry-level requirements.
It is alleged that Air Namibia paid at least N$70 000 in 2009 for Singh’s training in South Africa, where he qualified for multi-engine and instrument ratings.
Singh did not have these qualifications, and was only in possession of a single-engine rating acquired in the United States. Singh also had as little as 250 flying hours to his name, despite the fact that Air Namibia’s in-house rules require that entry-level pilots need at least 500 hours.
As a result of his lack of qualifications, Singh was not recommended for the formal employment process at Air Namibia during his initial employment application.

In January this year, it is alleged that Air Namibia senior personnel put pressure on the domestic fleet department to include Singh in the required interview and training process, along with pilots who had undergone the initial formal employment process and passed.
Theo Namases, Air Namibia’s human resource manager, last week confirmed that Air Namibia gave Singh a contract in order “to enable him to undergo training.”
Namases added that this was in line with “the assistance that Air Namibia can give in its endeavour to ensure adequate manpower requirements” and that it is “Air Namibia’s practice to financially assist some pilots on entry”.
Contacted yesterday, Namases changed her story, denying that Singh was ever employed and saying he “does not have an employment contract” with Air Namibia.
When she was probed further on how Air Namibia had secured Singh’s work visa, she said: “No comment.”
She furthermore insisted that Singh does not yet fly the domestic fleet and that he is still waiting to do the simulator conversion test, which has been delayed in order to partner Singh with another entry-level pilot in order to “cut costs.”
The reason behind the push to employ Singh as a pilot at Air Namibia is allegedly to balance the racial ratio of Air Namibia pilots, an insider said.
Although Air Namibia struggles to employ qualified pilots for its big aircraft such as the Boeing 737 on international routes, there are “enough qualified Namibians” who fit the minimum requirements to fly Beechcraft planes, the DCA representative said this week.

[Bob3213]

Enough Nam pilots!? I dont think so! Cant blame the few Nam pilots for seeking jobs somewhere else, though. If a company is managed by clowns, soon it will turn into a circus. ...like it has now.

[Voel]

Enough Nam pilots!? I dont think so!

You wrong, they are all here in the sandpit :ok:

[Malagant]

It seems then that the Nam DCA has double standards concerning the issueance of validations! They won`t validate a FAA licence and they are loath to give a SA validation these days, you have to supply them with a ton of paperwork just for the said validation from a SA licence. Just to do a test flight in SA on a V5 aircraft they want all the paperwork, 5 weeks later they wanted all the paperwork for those 2 pilots again before issueing a validation for another test flight on the same V5 aircraft! So I don`t understand that the pilot in question was issued a validation without the Nam DCA having the required paperwork that the SA licence was valid..either the source has incorrect info on that or it`s a question of who paid who..or is it just cause she is black? The Nam govt has taken a grim view of the so called foreigners that work in the Nam industry, these foreigners, mostly SA pilots have been playing a major part in the huge tourist industry that is a great source of revenue to the govt, and if all the foreign pilots have to leave Nam today, with the remaining Nam pilots, most of the charter companies will close their doors within a year, there is just NOT enough pilots, Nam born to sustain the huge industry! The Nam DCA is following the Govt directive to prevent as many as possible foreign pilots from working in Nam. Considering both these Air Nam pilots beieng of other ethnic groups it will seem like the Govt and the DCA is doiing their best to prevent foreign (meaning white) pilots from working in Nam. Does Air Nam care if Ralph left, NO, another white pilot out of their hair, that it went to press..not really, Air Nam will have the right answers and it will eventually blow over! They will just replace him, most probably with a black pilot who will sign papers when they say so! Ralph, well done and good luck with finding another job!:D

[126.9]

Smacks of another alleged incident involving South African Airways first officers and Trevor Abrahams! :}

[dievlieger]

If this is the same Ralph Brummer that worked for RossAir years ago, then I had the good fortune to do my ATP test with him. Great pilot, real gentleman and always willing to give of his time and knowledge. It takes a lot of guts for a family man to stick to his principles to such an extent as to give up a senior job with the biggest aviation company in such a small industry as in Namibia. If you're reading this Ralph, I wish you well and hope you get a much better job than your old one in no time. Thanks for maintaining your integrity in what must have been a very difficult situation at work. :ok::D

[Bob3213]

AMEN MALAGANT!!!! :ok:
Yep, forget standards, laws and safety. What the government decides (on which ever day) will be the new law. Home Affairs, DCA and Air Babboonia will always be right, especially if there is skin colour and/or bribes involved. Or if the "airforce" is bombing over the capitol at less than 300 feet - forget the safety issues involved or what the law states. It reminds me of that of old Sylvester Stallone movie, Judge Dread: "I AM THE LAW" when I phoned DCA to complain. (thought it might be funny to hear their reaction)
Also, a very interesting fact - need to get your work permit done quicker? Home Affairs are open for bribes. THEY ACTUALLY ENCOURAGE IT!!! "Yes, Mr Boer, I understand that it has been a few months since your permit expired, but lets talk outside. Maybe you can "help" me to speed things up." :mad: THAT! T.I.A and A.W.A

[Kittycat]

Ralph, Your high standards and no compromise attitude is truly amazing, you made the right decision here!!!! :D

[kichwa tembo]

For those of us who know Ralph, no surprises here.

Well done ! An inspiration to us all!

[piapito]

Thank you Sir

I applaud and thank Mr: Brammer for being the person he is. Tonight he is sleeping well, with no blood on his hands. The world (especially Africa) would be such a better place with more people like him. This affirmative action crap is getting out of hand, but worst of all it is done with no consideration to safety, and these as*******s are willing to put lives on the line to keep everything "previously disadvantaged crewed" (Namibia got "liberated" 2 decades ago for sake) what happened to standards??, if you are good enough to be there you should, and if not, you shouldnt!! FULL STOP. Mr: Nyandoro " Jy's 'n :mad: peopol" Thanks to Mr: Brummer who by the powerfull word NO just saved his own ass and the lives of a possible 21 others too. :\:ugh::ugh::ugh::ugh:

[Gaius Westman]

Kudos Ralph! Well done. I don't know him personally but know a couple who do, and they speak highly high of him. Only wish there were about 500 million more like him on this continent!!!

[Tom_Kitty]

Ralph, thanks for the time spent in the cockpit. It is good to see that there are still people willing to stand up for what is right.:ok:

What p***es me of, is that most likely NOBODY at Air Nam gives a damn.:yuk::yuk:
Will Nyandoro be held responsible? Of course not! Will Singh "loose" his job at Air Nam? Of course not! Will Namases be held responsible for employing her buddies son? Of course not!:mad:
And what ratial balancing crap is this? As far as I am concerned an Indian is neither white, nor black ... would somebody care to enlighten me ... :bored:

[DaFly]

Well, since Capt. Nyandoro himself is a foreigner from Zim, he doesn't have problem employing foreigners, as long as they sort of match his skin colour. Since the rules have been bent to get him where he is now (head of training & standards) - he struggled a bit with the B737 rating, so a company in the UK had to be found that was willing to pass him and his look-a-likes - he doesn't have problem bending the regulations a bit further. Comair, the nearest training facility in JHB for the 737 are 'all racists' since Nyandoro & some brothers struggled a bit getting his rating over there.
That is why the fleet captain B1900 was supposed to go to Comair in order to do (and fail) his 737 rating over there, as punishment for not wanting to employ the son of the Indian ambassador, since that guy is not only a foreigner, but has failed the psychiometric testing and doesn't meet the minimum requirements. Now Air Namibia is sponsoring that guy's training, while Namibian pilots are turned down.
The fleet captain was told, that he is mingeling too much with the white guys and must get his thinking straight. In fact, I have met very few people thinking that straight in this company, no matter what skin colour.
In the meantime Air Namibia has decided, that the position of the chief pilot is redundant. Air Namibia has lost a legal case against their chief pilot but tries everything to get rid of him anyway. Well, now thaey are officially operating without a chief pilot. Good luck to all of us. :D

[lilflyboy262]

After reading this thread, there is one thing that really stands out for me. That poor chick in the first post, her abilities as a pilot have been shown to the entire world, or at least to anyone who cares to read the article.
I would be furious! There is no need to put her name in there as she has no part in the wrong doing. "A pilot" would have been enough...

[Pow-wow]

Exactly how did she have "no part in the wrong doing", when she applied and went for a job in Nam without any flying license.
I´m sure nobody forced her to do so, and nobody forced her to keep up the sharade she was involved in.
How do you get hired at Air Nam without a Namibian flying license and with a South African passport....PLEASE...the whole thing smells of nepotism or corruption and if the girl was indeed a "pilot" that would imply that she is a proffesional, and as such she should have spoken up and stopped the whole thing.
No part in it - my :mad:

[lilflyboy262]

Quite easily.
I got hired by my company with no botswanan licence. After being hired, I then got a botswanan licence.
Just because she didnt have a namib licence, doesnt mean she doesnt have a licence at all.
To get a work/residence permit in most of the countries here in Africa (Not all, before some of the quick trigger finger people go crazy), you need to be hired by the company first.

[nugpot]

lilflyboy262
Just because she didnt have a namib licence, doesnt mean she doesnt have a licence at all.

Why didn't you just read the entire first post.

When it was discovered that Mndawe was not in possession of a valid SA flying licence,

She actually did not have a licence at all. I think it is pretty important that her name is known. No use hiring someone who has failed numerous times before.

[Pow-wow]

Thank you nugpot, you beat me to it...:ok:...exactly what I was going to say.

Also, lilflyboy262, there is a difference between working for a bush company and working for the national carrier. For starters, as far as I remember, the Ops manual used to say that "citizenship" was one of the minimum requirements...as is a VALID NAMIBIAN CPL flying license...might have changed since my days there, but I cant imagine why ?!?

[DaFly]

When Madam was employed initially, she still had a RSA CPL, it expired later during her training. So when it came to the issuing of a validation for Nam, there was no valid / current RSA licence anymore, on which basis a Nam validation could have been issued.
A Namibian CPL or higher licence can only be obtained by a foreigner, once a workpermit has been issued.
Of course, like any flag carrier, Air Namibia will prefer Namibian citizens, in theory at least. Since there are only so many Nam pilots out there, Air Namibia has to look into employing foreigners, too. Not long ago, they basically sat there with no one to feed the 737 fleet, since B190 F/Os were incapable of moving over to the left seat, due to lack of ATPLs. Without feeding the B190 left seat, there was nobody to be moved into the right seat of the 737. They had literally 4 Captains for 4 aircraft. That made it necessary to look into employing foreigners too, which doesn't mean that employing someone hopeless as madam was a sensible thing to do.
With the 2 intakes they had in 2009, they employed too many white pilots to managements liking and madam came in handy to counterbalance the whole thing a bit.
However, somebody who can't even fly a straight line neither to a beacon, GPS waypoint or even a ground feature ("but I'm not familiar with the area...") nor doesn't know, that selecting flaps on a 1900 or any other turbo prop , does not change the pitch of the props, should maybe not even have an expired RSA CPL... :eek:

[three eighty]

Make her Malema's personal pilot

[lilflyboy262]

Thank you DaFly, You beat me to it with that reply. :ok:
As I said. Quick fingered posters.
A reporter would have a field day if they found she had no licence at all.

And totally agree with the above post.

[Pow-wow]

Thank you for the insight DaFly, nothings changed at Air Nam then :ugh:

[Contract Dog]

Because I dont have the time or inclination to "train" a type rated pilot on exe 12/13 and nor do I want to get pissed with somone with a everest sized chipp on their shoulder.

Give us the names so we dont have to deal with them!

Dog

[Voel]

with no one to feed the 737 fleet

Does anybody know if "ME" one of the few B737 captains got the job at Nampower?

[DaFly]

@ Voel:

Nope, the job has been given to a pilot from Westair. Sort of got stuck and demoted on his previous job, so this one looks like a great move for him.

I think, even though we all know how Air Nam politics work and get to you and why some of the experienced guys leave Air Nam, it will be very hard for anybody leaving that company to find another flying job within the country.

@ Contract Dog:
Names have been published on the previous page, quoting the newspaper article. :8

[Voel]

Fanks DaFly. From what I hear is that the guys on the B737's are very unhappy :{, whereas the guys on the A340 are happy chappies again :}. ME was so keen to get that job at Nampower, as he was flying his butts off at Air Nam. He even missed one interview, as his flight was delayed for 6 hours in Jo'burg due tech (I happended to be on the same one). Eish!!!

[DaFly]

The 737 is seriously short on crew, quite a few Capt. have resigned last year. Some are flying their butts off, some have 22 off days the same month...
A certain Captain, from a country to the north east of Nam (were they tend to run out of petrol & pap), who incidently is the head of training & standards, tends to skip sop calls every now and then. Not only one, but almost all of them the entire flight. Be aware, you mention anything as FO, you will be send to the sim to re-adjust your attitude.
The 2 735 don't spend enough time on the ground in order to fix all the snags. Pressurisation problems have been common. If snags have been deferred for too long according to the MEL, DCA grants extension.
Vacation gets cxd the day before you go.
Aviation med. examiner doesn't fly as pax on this fleet anymore, too many pilots are overly tired. He even booked some of them off sick, just for them to get back on their feet.

A340 seems to be the most relaxed fleet. Domestic is cool as well, since it's operating out of Eros mostly and not Hosea. A club of their own, only remotely affected by in house politics.

Comment from Nampower: do I rather employ someone younger, who is enthusiastic about flying and moving up to a Lear or someone who is rather dis-illusioned who turned his back on Air Nam, now moving down from Capt 735 to a junior pilot's position?
There you have it. Once you're in, the only way out is to the sandpit or to the place where they eat everything that moves, (and if it doesn't move, they kick it until it moves) with rice.

[AEST]

Just to stir it up a little:

There should be no law against flying without a certificate/licence!

In fact, the laws on safety of flight are more likely to increase risk than to reduce it.

Bet that should get you going!! :p

[FDA]

Based on that last post it is clear as to why you would advocate flying without a licence-you obviously lack the requisite intelligence to get one.Climb back into that Samsonite where you can be of no harm to society...

[Tom_Kitty]

To get the discussion back to the chick without a licence.
The Zim-club extends to South Africa. There is a certain "Colonel Nhlanhla Dube"working at SAX that is apparently her boyfriend. Rumor has it he was/is also involved in the one or other corruption scandal ... Him and his good mates at Air Nam more than likely 'arranged' the entire mess.

What the hell are these idiots doing in RSA and Namibia in any case? We have enough corruption and political baggage of our own. On the other hand our supermarkets are well stocked ... :cool:

[Piper Driver]

In Africa this is the accepted means of making the previously disadvantaged become the presently advantaged.

It is called BEE :}:}:}

[four engine jock]

now that AirQuarius have lost the contract who will Air Namibia take in. Safair,Star air cargo,Avstar on Interair.

[Tom_Kitty]

Air Zimbabwe :bored::confused::\:{

[AEST]

FDA,

You apparently don't know the difference between a safe pilot and a guy with a piece of paper.

Training today is mostly aimed at compliance with regulation, not flight safety. In conclusion, flight safety is not the objective.

In the absence of regulation (regulatory compliance), focus will increase on safe conduct of flight. (Insurance, owner, pilot would all force this to top priority)